China Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has tracked higher in two straight sessions, advancing almost 110 points or 3.7 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,000-point plateau although it's expected to turn lower again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on concerns about the outlook for interest rates following the FOMC's rate decision. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the properties and resource stocks, while the financials came in mixed.

For the day, the index climbed 34.17 points or 1.15 percent to finish at 3,003.37 after trading between 2,954.95 and 3,019.05. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 25.85 points or 1.33 percent to end at 1,968.20.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.25 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.66 percent, China Construction Bank lost 0.57 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 0.82 percent, Bank of Communications rose 0.22 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 1.21 percent, Jiangxi Copper strengthened 1.52 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) climbed 1.01 percent, Yankuang Energy surged 4.75 percent, PetroChina advanced 0.82 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) perked 0.24 percent, Huaneng Power sank 0.74 percent, China Shenhua Energy rallied 2.57 percent, Gemdale jumped 1.63 percent, Poly Developments spiked 2.65 percent, China Vanke increased 0.36 percent, China Fortune Land improved 1.79 percent and Beijing Development soared 3.41 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages hugged the line for most of Wednesday's session but turned sharply lower after the FOMC decision.

The Dow plunged 505.44 points or 1.55 percent to finish at 32,147.76, while the NASDAQ tumbled 366.05 points or 3.36 percent to close at 10,524.80 and the S&P 500 slumped 96.41 points or 2.50 percent to end at 3,759.69.

The late-day volatility came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points in an effort to rein in inflation.

The Fed noted that future rate hikes will "take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments."

But comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell tamped down optimism about the outlook for interest rates: "It is very premature, in my view, to think about or be talking about pausing our rate hikes. We have a ways to go."

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday after data showed declines in crude and gasoline stockpiles in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December climbed $1.63 or 1.8 percent at $90.00 a barrel.